1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to data analysis. In particular, this invention relates to the determination and display of information associated with securities.
2. Description of Related Art
Technical analysis of the market is the examination and study of price movements in an attempt to guess future price movement. This guess can be based on historical and/or a real-time view of price fluctuations. Technical analysts are sometimes referred to “chartists” because they typically rely on charts and graphical information for analysis and market predictions. Technical analysis is usually applied to stocks, bonds, commodities, futures, or in general any tradable instrument where there are price fluctuations. This technical analysis is usually limited to a time frame, although the time frame can be anything from intraday, which can, for example, be based on the tick, or in 5-minute, 10-minute, hourly, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly intervals or any other time period for which price data is available, including historical information.
Since an objective of market analysis is to attempt to predict future price changes, technical analysts traditionally regard price changes associated with the particular stock very highly under the assumption that variations in price typically occur before changes in that stock price. One tool used for the analysis of these trends or patterns is price charts. Price charts illustrate a graph of the price of a particular stock, commodity, or the like, over a time frame. These price charts are usually configured so that the x-axis represents a time frame with the y-axis representing a price point. Any security which has a price that changes over a given period of time can be charted for technical analysis.
Additionally, charts can illustrate the rate of change of price for a given commodity and/or any other metric used to reflect a commodities position or activity in the marketplace.